Surviving the Modern Pokemon Era
by TheDebonairAngel
Summary: In an era where having a good corporate sponsor is just as important as being a skilled Pokemon trainer, Harvey Reus will attempt to navigate his way through this new era and try to climb the ladder to the top to become the champion. And who is that mysterious Pokemon that keeps interrupting Harvey's dreams and why is he saying the world is coming to an end.
1. Chapter 1

**Sweet Dreams**

It was late in the evening in New Bark Town. The town which usually buzzed like the inside of a combee hive was sound asleep. Total darkness enveloped the area save for one house. One light shone bright like the shining beacon of a lighthouse. The source of the light came from the top window of the Reus residents. Sixteen year old Harvey sat hunched over his desk, hands on his head holding back his night black hair as he studied the contents of the book in front of him.

"Ok… so using Rain Dance increases the power of water type moves however it also increases the accuracy of Thunder," I said to myself as I read my book. I let out a huge yawn and stretched my hands over my head allowing the hair that was being held back to fall over my eyes.

_Damn it I really need to get a haircut tomorrow,_ I thought to myself as I looked for an elastic band to hold back my hair. After two minutes of looking for the band I gave up.

_Might as well go to bed now, I've learnt everything I possibly could and I want to be fresh for the test tomorrow morning._ I switched the light for my room off and slowly stumbled my way across my room to my bed in the pitch dark.

_I wonder what Pokémon the exam will pair me up with tomorrow, _I thought to myself as I stared out the window next to my bed. _I'll be happy with any Pokémon I get, except a rattata I'd rather become an accountant than own a rattata,_ I thought as I drifted into a deep slumber.

* * *

"Where am I, what is this place?" I asked myself as I took in my surroundings. I couldn't see anything it was pitched black, it was as if I had lost my eyesight. I brought my hand closer and closer to my face and until I could just make out the outline of my hand.

"Well I haven't gone blind" I said to myself as I strolled through the pitch black environment. "Can't say I've ever had a dream like this before," I commented as I continued to walk in a straight line.

"That's because you're not dreaming" replied a deep voice.

"Who said that?" I asked turning my head from side to side trying to identify where the voice was coming from.

"Who am I? Well that's nothing for you to worry about for now Harvey," the deep slick voice replied.

"How do you know, who I am? Wait I'm dreaming this is a figment of my imagination of course you know who I am" I replied cooley, _but then why does this place feel so real_ I thought to myself as I looked up towards the sky.

_I can feel something, it's huge and it's circling me like a sharpedo _I thought as I felt a huge pressure pressing against my mind. _How is that even possible what is this thing._

"Believe me, don't believe it is none of my concern at the moment," The voice replied to me as it watched me frantically turning around trying to find where the voice was coming from. "I come to you to congratulate you," the voice continued.

"Congratulate me, for what?" I asked as I stared directly into the direction that the voice came from.

"I have chosen you to represent me for a certain upcoming event" answered the voice as he stopped moving and stared directly at me. "For now that is all you have to know, from this point forth you must prove to me that you are worthy to represent me and help save the earth"

"Wait what! What's going to happen to the earth, what event I don't understand?" I questioned the voice as I moved towards the source of the voice. "ANSWER ME!" I yelled at the voice.

* * *

I woke up with a start covered in sweat. _A dream it was just a dream_ I thought to myself. I turned and looked at my alarm clock the digits read seven am. _I better get out of bed and get ready for the test._ Harvey got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. He stripped his pajamas and got into the shower.

_What was up with that dream, I've never ever had a dream like that before. I wonder if it was something I ate last night or it could just be the anxiety I had for the test today, yeah it was probably the anxiety,_ I reasoned with myself as I stood underneath the boiling water from the shower.

Harvey got out of the shower and walked back into his room he looked through his cupboard looking for something to wear. _Okay so I'll wear my dark blue jeans, my white t-shirt with a pokeball on it and my letterman jacket with the cream sleeves and blue body with a gold stripe going down the body._

I put on the clothes and inspected myself in the mirror. _Yeah I look awesome_ I thought as I dusted off my jacket. Harvey made his way downstairs, as he walked down he caught a whiff of the delicious smell of his mom's homemade pancakes. He entered the kitchen to find his mom behind the stove making pancakes.

If anyone ever saw my mom and me together you would never guess that they were related. Where I had golden brown skin like a pancake and black hair with brown eyes mom had skin as white as snow, with emerald green eyes and blonde hair.

"Morning mom" I greeted as I approached her and gave her a hug.

"Morning sweetey. You ready for your big day?" Mom asked as she moved a pancake from the pan to the stack of pancakes on a plate next to her.

"I think so I've studied really hard for this exam." I replied as I grabbed the stack of pancakes and walked towards the dining room table.

"I'm so glad that they've changed the way people become Pokémon trainers. Back in my day all you had to do was be twelve and go to your local Pokémon centre and get your starter" Mom explained as she followed me towards the dining room table.

_That's right mom was alive back when they had the old rules_, I thought as I attempted to shove an entire a pancake into my mouth.

I swallowed my pancake and chased it down with some orange juice "Why did they change the system mom?" I asked her once I was done swallowing.

"Well you see the league came to the realization that twelve isn't exactly a good age to send out children to try to travel across a country. They weren't emotionally or physically ready. So they bumped up the age from twelve to sixteen to become a Pokémon trainer or coordinator" Mom explained. "However that only solved one of their problems" she continued.

"What was the other problem?" I asked.

"Well you see every year the league was getting thousands of children wanting to become trainers and coordinators and only a handful of them managed to get eight badges or four ribbons required of them. So there was a surplus of trainers every year and not enough of them were becoming doctors or lawyers or engineers they just kept trying to get enough badges or ribbons when they clearly weren't good enough" she stopped to take a sip of tea as she watched her son listening intently. "So that's when the league devised the exam that all hopeful trainers and coordinators must take in order to become official trainers or coordinators." She concluded as she took another sip of her tea.

I finished of my fifth pancake as I contemplated what mom had just said. "So when did they change the starter Pokémon system?" asked Harvey as he picked up his sixth pancake.

"Well let's see I think it was around ten years ago when they changed the system" Harvey's mom said as she rotated her cup.

"Why"

"I think they just wanted more variety or something I'm not really sure you may need to ask your father when you see him." She said as she grabbed her first pancake. "Oh look at the time you better hurry over to Professor Elm's lab" she said as she stared at the clock.

"Alright I better get going then" I said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Wait, wait!" Mom shouted.

"What"

"Look at your hair it is such a mess go comb it before you leave" mom said as she inspected my long hair.

I rolling my eyes at her and replied "But moooooooom"

Mom looked at me with a stern face and pointed her finger to my room upstairs "Go comb your hair"

I raced up the stairs nearly stumbling and falling on one of the steps and entered my bathroom. I grabbed my brown comb and tried to work it threw my mangled hair. "ow ow ow ow" I moaned in pain as I tried to work the knots out of my hair. After five painful minutes I gave up trying to remove all the knots from my hair. _I'll just get a haircut after the exam_ I thought to myself. Instead I removed my grey beanie from my closet and worked my hair into it.

"Happy Mom" I asked with a smug smile on my face.

She looked at me with her motherly smile "Yes you look very handsome in that outfit"

I blushed "You're just saying that cause I'm your son"

She replied still smiling "Yes it is my duty as your mother to give you self esteem, however I'm actually telling the truth"

I walked up to my mom and gave her a huge ursaring hug "Thanks mom"

"Now go or else you're going to be late and good luck" mom said

I grabbed my maroon satchel as I walked through the front door I shouted "Thanks mom I'll see you later"

I took in a deep breath of fresh air as I closed the door behind me, the weather outside was overcast and the grey clouds overhead looked like they were about to burst any second. I looked at the watch on my wrist. _Shit better hurry up or I'll be late for registration. _I broke into a sprint as I navigated my way to Elm's lab. I arrived there in a few short minutes _Barely broke a sweat, _I congratulated myself_. _I entered the lab to the sound of teenagers all chatting to one another. _Wow looks like every sixteen year old in New Bark is here today. _The lab had been emptied of all lab equipment, instead of complicated lab devices there were desks and chairs set up taking up two thirds of the room, at the front was a large table set up where the students were lining up.

I maneuvered my way to the front of the lab and lined up with the rest of the students. Many students were already seated. _I guess they got here early for registration. _I waved and said hi to my fellow class mates as I waited in line. I turned my head around trying to find any hint of my friends. _Where are they_?

All of a sudden I felt the air being forced out my lungs as two strong arms crushed my ribs forcing the air out of my lungs.

"You ready for today Harvs?" my assailant asked.

Gasping for breath I managed to put a sentence together "Yes….put…me…..down….please" I pleaded.

My assailant put me down and released me as air rushed back into my lungs I turned around and placed one hand on my assailant's shoulder to steady myself "Must…. you do that… every time Clark?" I asked in between breaths.

"Yes, yes I do" Clark replied with a huge grin on his face.

I turned to look at my best friend in the world. Clark is huge for a sixteen year old he looks more like the human teen version of a machamp. He has blonde hair that has been cut with an undercut and slicked back hair on top, this is complemented by his blue eyes that give him that typical beach boy look. However despite his huge menacing look Clark was one of the most down to earth people I knew he was always willing to help out others. Clark and I had been best friends for years ever since he defended me from a bully in kindergarten. I guess it was his nature of helping people that lead him to rescuing me that day. Ever since that day we have been the best of friends we knew everything about one another.

As we waited in line we chatted about the upcoming test and the latest stories happening around the world. "Did you see on TV last night the Chaos Control Corporation finally apprehended Archie and Maxie" Clark asked as we approached the front of the line for registration.

"Yeah it's amazing they've nearly caught all the criminal organization leaders" I replied as we reached the front of the line.

At the front of the line behind the desk was the town's local Nurse Joy "ID please" she asked with a bright smile. "Harvey, yes you'll be sitting in the row right at the back in the second desk right after the one in the corner you should find your name on your desk" Nurse Joy explained as she confirmed with a huge black book in front of her.

"Thank you" I replied

"Oh and good luck" Nurse Joy said

"Thank you" I repeated with a smile as said as I took back my ID back from her. I waited a few minutes for Clark to finish with his registration.

When Clark finished he walked up to me with a smile "Dude guess what….I'm sitting in front of you" Clark said without giving me time to even guess.

"Awesome but I'm not letting you cheat of me like that one time in math" I said to him as we walked to our desks.

"Come on that was one time and I really didn't want to fail" he replied with a pout.

"Hey have you seen bloom and gloom yet?" I asked Clark as I turned my head around looking for our other two friends.

Clark turned his head around also looking for bloom and gloom his extra height gave him a better vantage point for looking over the crowd of people. "Found them and you won't believe where they're seated." Clark said as he pointed to the corner of the room where we were also seated.

We approached the corner of the room to find our two friends bloom and gloom also known as Alex and Zoey. Alex was seated in her desk looking as bored as ever and Zoey was sitting on her desk and appeared to be lively explaining something to Alex.

Alex had black hair, blue eyes and pale skin her most distinguishing feature was her few strands of hair that she died a turquoise blue, her hair came down to just below her shoulder and she allowed the one side of her hair with the blue streak to cover her one eye. She wore a short black frilly skirt that came down three quarters of her thigh and black leggings, she wore a matching black sweater that hung off the one shoulder which revealed her black bra strap on her shoulder. Alex was the poster girl for emo-punk girls everywhere.

In contrast to Alex who was all dark and brooding Zoey was a ray of sunshine. She is always smiling and laughing her clothing reflected her bright personality. Today she was wearing a white and red stripped t-shirt with a pink mini skirt. Her long blonde curly hair was brought around her head so that it all lay on her right shoulder. This fully showed off her ear piercings, one diamond pink stud in her earlobe and three rod piercing going through the round part of her ear at the top.

These two girls were complete opposites of one another yet they were both the best of friends. One was always happy and smiling while the other hardly ever smiled and was always depressing. They were always found together leading them to their infamous nicknames bloom and gloom.

"…and that is why I'm going to be the best coordinator ever" Zoey concluded as we heard the end of her explanation as we approached her and Alex.

"Hey girls" Clark greeted as he hugged Zoey and Alex.

"You girls ready for today?" I asked as greeted Zoey and Alex with hugs.

Zoey lit up at the question and answered still with a huge smile on her face "You betcha I've only slept like seven hours this week I've watched so many trainer battles and contests and read every book cover to cover I'm so gonna ace this exam" she concluded still smiling brightly.

"You know no one from New Bark town has passed the exam in eight years so the odds aren't exactly in our favor Zoe" Alex said looking bored to death as her hand propped up her head so she could look at us.

"Must you always kill the vibe Lex? We're all nervous already" I asked Alex. She responded with a shrug of her shoulders. Zoe unsurprisingly had already forgotten Alex's words and was chewing Clark's ear of by listing her top ten cutest Pokémon.

BANG! Before I could continue my conversation with Alex there was a loud noise as the front doors were pushed with such force that they slammed into the walls. "Sup bitches the future champ is here, ladies single file please no uglies or fatties please" came a loud boastful voice as a large teen walked through the door.

"Fuck what is Luke doing here?" Alex muttered to us as we watched Luke stroll to the registration desk. "He's barely passing High school, how does he expect to pass the trainer exam"

I shrugged my shoulders as we watched look attempt to flirt with Nurse Joy. Luke was the local school bully, the same bully that Clark rescued me from all those years ago. He looked similar to Clark except for his hair, which was dyed a blood red. Luke had died his hair red in order to look like the former champion Lance, apparently he was some distant relative of his a fact that he loved to boast about.

"Well at least we'll have the satisfaction of seeing him fail one last time" I said with a smirk on my face.

Suddenly the intercom system crackled to life and a timid voice emerged from the speakers "Can everyone please take their seats we are about to begin" the voice commanded.

The four of us embraced for a group hug although Alex seemed less enthusiastic about the hug then the rest of us as she was dragged into it by Zoey. We wished each other good luck as we took our seats. I was seated next to Alex, with Clark in front of me and Zoey next to him, as the four of us formed a square at the back of the room.

Professor Elm emerged from a room near the front with a mike in his hands. He wore his huge rimmed glasses and the classic professor lab coat. "Welcome to all of you fifty hopefuls to this year's first trainer exam. Before we begin I need to go over a few things with you. Firstly if you are caught cheating you will be banned from taking this exam ever again. As you probably all ready know the test will be split into two sections theory and a practical. You will write theory first in this hall and do the practical later on today. Do you understand me?" the professor asked pausing as he watched heads bopping up and down nodding. "Good ok next, I know that we've been having a dry spell here in New Bark for eight years but I have been monitoring a lot of you here for many years and I believe that this year our dry spell will finally be broken." He was rewarded with a huge amount of cheering and clapping from the audience which put a smile on the old professor's face. "And I have a sneaking suspicion that someone sitting in this room will become the next champion of Kanto and Jhoto and will become the second champion to come from New Bark since our first champion Ethan gold" The professor exclaimed raising both his hands in the air. If the professor thought the cheering previously was loud this was ear drum shattering as everybody lost their minds as they saw how much belief their professor had in them. "So good luck everyone and do New Bark proud" he signed off as his assistants begun handing out the exams.

_Let's do this I am ready, I've studied so hard I'm going to complete this test and finally become a professional Pokémon trainer, _I thought as my friends and I all looked at each other and made a silent pledge to pass this exam and start our Pokémon journey together.

* * *

**Authors' Note:****  
**

**Alright new story, I know there was minimum Pokémon in this chapter but that'll change soon. I know I still haven't given any explanations about the corporations but all will be revealed in time, and by time I mean hopefully next chapter I really want to flesh out this world quickly so we can get to the battling and journey part of the story.**

**If you have any questions feel free to leave them in a review or pm. This will be an oc accepting story just go to my profile and fill in the template to donate an oc.**

**BTW the mysterious Pokemon is not Darkrai just because it was pitch black and invading his dreams does not make it Darkrai, so there's one Pokemon you can cross off the list.**

**Finally I am looking for a beta so if anyone is interested please let me know. **

**Thanks for reading please leave a review (or don't your choice) I happily accept criticism as I want to become a better writer****.**

**Bye till next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: It had to be that Pokémon**

I glanced down at the exam that had been placed in front of me, my heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was humming. I gazed at my three friends around me, Zoey was still smiling whilst twirling her pencil around her fingers, Alex looked completely uninterested in what was happening and I all I could see off Clark was his huge back, as if knowing I was staring at him he slyly turned around and gave me a thumbs up. I felt myself calming down a little after seeing my friends so calm and collected.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen it is now eleven 'o clock, you have four hours to complete the exam, as you already know the first third of your test is a personality exam, the rest of your paper is the actual exam that I hope you have all prepared for" Professor Elm explained as he looked around the room at all of us. "If you require more paper to write on please raise your hand and wait for assistance, if you finish early please raise your hand so we can collect your paper from you, you may then proceed to leave, however please be reminded that you must be back here at four 'o clock for your practical exam. That is all I have to say good luck"

The room came alive with sounds of papers rustling and pens scraping against pages as everyone turned over their exam and begun answering the questions. _Alright question 1 if you were a fruit what fruit would you be and why? I don't know probably a coconut cause I'm small and tough on the outside and on the inside._

_Question 35, what is the strength of Blastoise cannons? Easy it's 90000 PSI._

_Question 58, what is the name of the world in which the legendary Pokémon Giratina resides? Ahhhhhh I can't remember, I think it started with a d, dis something, what was it? I think it was distortion world, I'm just going to write distortion world._

_**A while later….**_

_Finally I'm done. _I looked around to see most of the room had already emptied. _Wow I didn't notice anyone leaving. _I looked to my left to see Bloom and Gloom had already left the venue. Clark was still seated in front of me. I raised my hand in the air and waited for my paper to be collected as I waited I glanced at the clock, the hands were positioned at half past two.

When my paper was collected I quietly got up and walked out of Elm's lab. As I exited the building I saw teens sprawled out everywhere as if they had been through war, everyone looked exhausted. I searched through the crowd for Bloom and Gloom, I eventually found them under the shade of a large oak tree occupying an old withered picnic bench.

As I walked closer I saw that Gloom was lying across the table of the picnic bench sleeping and Bloom who was usually so full of energy was laying on one of the benches with her right arm across her eyes.

"What did you ladies think?" I asked taking a similar positen to Bloom on the opposite bench of the picnic bench. Bloom let out a moan while Gloom raised her one hand and moved it from side to side in an okay gesture. "Fuck I know right, those math questions were so hard and those Pokémon mythology questions killed me. I mean why do we even need to know Pokémon mythology? I can make my peace with calculating how long it would take mega Charizard x's flamethrower to strike a target ten meters away, because that kind of stuff is helpful in a Pokémon contests and battle situations, but how is Pokémon lore suppose to help?" I complained massaging my temples with my hands.

Bloom let out a moan which I assumed was her way of agreeing with me and Gloom just gave me a thumbs up. We sat in silence for a few minutes listing to the chirps of Pidgeys in the tree above us.

"There you guys are," Clark greeted us as he leaned against the dark trunk of the oak tree.

"Man that exam was tough" Clark said not sounding exhausted at all.

I used all of my energy to pick up my head and look at Clark "How do you still sound and look so energetic? Aren't you at ll tired from that exam a?" I questioned Clark

"I don't know, I guess a good work out mental or physical always gets me pumped up and ready for action. I feel like I could run a marathon or get a quick session done at the gym a human gym not a Pokémon gym," he explained as he shadow boxed the trunk of the tree.

I let my head fall back onto the bench with an audible thud "Owww" I muttered as I heard Gloom giggling enjoying my pain.

"Oh by the way guys what did you put for the what fruit would you be question? Clark asked as he begun doing push-ups.

"I said a coconut cause I'm tough on the outside and inside" I answered.

"I said a peach cause I'm cuddly and soft and everybody loves me" Bloom answered in her usual chirpy voice not using moans to communicate anymore.

"I said a tomato because I don't fit in" Gloom answered emotionlessly.

"Wow that's genius, that description fits you perfectly," I said.

"I know Harv that's why I wrote it" she replied.

"What about my fruit doesn't it fit me perfectly?" Bloom whined

I couldn't see her face but I knew she was pouting and making those puppy Poochyena eyes "Yes yes your fruit also fits you perfectly" I quickly replied trying to placate her. "What did you say Clark?" I asked Clark.

"I said a banana cause I'm tough on the outside and filled with energy" he replied proudly as he now took up the sit up position and begun doing sit-ups.

"Dude please stop you're making me tired by just watching you" I complained

Clark continued his routine "Tough, maybe if you joined me when I worked out you'd be filled of energy like me" he replied.

"I'm not in that bad shape I mean I do come and work out with you like twice a week" I said trying to justify my lack of exercising.

He turned over and took up the plank position "If you want to look like me you should be excersising every day like me" He replied as he lifted his body off the ground to start the plank.

"Ladies, ladies you're both beautiful know can you both shut up I need to rest before the practical" Alex scolded us giving us a murderous look.

"Sorry" we both muttered in unison.

"You guys take a nap I'll wake you guys up ten minutes before we need to get back" Clark said as he started doing squats.

"Thanks" I said as I let out a huge yawn and dozed off.

* * *

_Where am I now? _Just like my last dream it was pitch black but this time it was freezing cold causing me to shiver. I was taking long deep breaths as it was getting very hard to breath. "Hello, weird voice creature thing are you there?" I called out to the dark void.

In response all I heard was a deep rumble it sounded like the voice was snickering.

* * *

"Harvey wake up! Harvey wake up! HARVEY!" yelled a voice pulling me out of my dream.

"I'm up," I said startled, my vision cleared and I saw Clark in front of me.

"You alright man?" he asked his one hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah I'm good" I said as I rubbed my eyes and got off the bench. I turned to see Bloom and Gloom were already up and ready to go.

"Well now that everyone is up shall we go?" Bloom suggested with her bright smile.

We all nodded in agreement and took off for Elm's Lab.

"Hey I've been wondering why do we even need to take a personality test? I mean surely it has nothing to do with being a good trainer?" Clark asked as we walked back to Elm's.

"Actually it does" I said "the personality test determines if you're mentally strong enough to deal with the pressures of being a trainer"

"And to make sure that no psychopaths become trainers" Gloom deadpanned.

"So aren't you worried they won't allow you to become a trainer than?" I said to Gloom.

Her only response was giving me the middle finger.

"I love you to Alex" I said sweetly.

"Harvey I swear to god I will kill you" Gloom said with a murderous glare in her eyes.

"Yes you are clearly demonstrating a non psychopathic behavior" I said as I continued to tease her.

"That's it!" she said as she smoothly bended down picked up a stone with her one hand and with one smooth movement flung the stone at me, hitting me squarely in-between my eyes,

"OWW!" I whined as I rubbed the spot where the rock hit me.

Bloom shook her head in disappointment "Why must you poke the Ursaring Harvey?" Bloom asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. This actually was normal for us, Clark or I would get Alex worked up and then she would make us feel immense pain. It's especially hilarious to see Clark cowering from a girl half his size.

We arrived at the Elm's lab shortly and returned to our assigned seats.

"Hello once again ladies and gentlemen" Professor Elm greeted us "I hope you are all ready for the next part of the examination, the practical" there was a murmur of excitement from the crowd. "You will each be divided into five groups of ten, each group will then be escorted to different parts of the town where a battling area has been set up for you. You will be given a Pokémon to battle with and you will then be scored accordingly to your battle. Remember just cause you lose does not mean you fail we are more looking at the strategies you employ and how you handle pressure in a Pokémon battle winning the battle just means you will score extra points, incidentally the same goes for winning, winning does not guarantee you a pass. The battles will be scored by the person that escorts you to your designated area. The examiners are myself and these four gentlemen to my left here" Professor Elm said raising his hand to indicate four people to his left strangely each one wore a number around their neck starting from two and going down to five.

"They are officials from the Pokémon league and have been doing this for years. Now if you'll look at your desks you will find a brown envelope in the envelope you will find a number from one to five, this number indicates which group you are in. Group one will be escorted and scored by yours truly the others will be escorted and marked by one of these four gentlemen just follow the gentlemen who's number corresponds with the number you have. You may now open you're envelope we'll be waiting for you outside we leave in five minutes good luck to everyone" Elm concluded as he and the four other men exited the building.

I opened my envelope to find the number one inside. I looked at my friends and showed them what number I was holding, to my complete surprise the four of them were holding up identical numbers to mine. "What are the odds?" I said.

"Oh my god this is so awesome we're all together" Bloom chimed in.

"Yay" Gloom deadpanned.

"Ok let me do a quick head count one, two….nine. Where's the tenth person?" Professor Elm asked.

"Right here Prof" came a voice from underneath a tree.

"No not him why did it have to be him?" Clark asked looking up at the sky.

I just shook my head in response to finding out the identity of the tenth member of our group.

"Ah Mr. Steel could you be so kind as to join us?" Professor Elm asked.

From the shadow of the tree emerged Luke, "Off cause Prof as future champion I wouldn't dream of missing this."

"Alright now that we are all here let's go" Professor Elm said leading the ten of us to our designated area.

Luke immediately dropped to the back off the group walking just in front of the four of us. "So Zoey you and me tonight movies at my place, what do you say?" he asked Zoey as he ran his fingers threw his bright red hair.

"Umm…..Thanks Luke but no thanks I have plans with my friends tonight" Bloom replied.

"Come on Zoe why hang out with these losers when you can hang out with the future champion of Kanto and Jhoto. I'll show you a good time" he said suggestively.

His comment made Zoey turn a bright shade of red "umm….Like I said before….. I have plans and even if I didn't I'd still say no" she replied nervously.

"Are you sure," he said as he attempted to put his arm around Zoey.

"Ok that's enough she said no now leave her alone" I said as I grabbed the hand he was trying to put around Zoey.

"Or what huh? What are you going to do to a guy who is twice your size, wuss?" he said shaking pulling his arm out of my grip.

"I'll… ummm….or I'll" I stuttered

"He'll punch you square in the face and then when he's done I'll pummel you into the ground" Clark said intervening and saving me in the progress.

"Whoa what's with all the violence I was just kidding "Luke said raising his hands in defense. He looked terrified at the thought of having to go toe to toe with Clark.

"Is there a problem back there?" asked professor Elm who had just noticed the commotion.

"No prof, there's no problem back here" he said backing away slowly from us and made his way to the front of the group.

"Thanks guys" Bloom said looking relieved.

"You're welcome Zoe" I said.

"Lucky you guys stepped in or else I would off castrated him right there" Alex said without a hint of emotion in her voice.

"I can't tell if she's joking" I whispered to Clark.

"We'll have to wait for the results of her personality test to know for sure" he replied whispering

"Hey thanks for stepping in and saving me there" I said still whispering.

"No problem I'll always have your back bro"

_What's wrong with me? Why do I always freeze up in situations like that? I acted like such a wuss _I thought to myself remembering that same word Luke used earlier. It actually wasn't the first time he called me a wuss, but it was the first time I actually considered that he might be right. _What would I have done if Clark wasn't there to help dig me out of that hole?_ I thought glancing at my friend.

"Here we are" Professor Elm announced pulling me out of my thoughts. Professor Elm had brought us to the edge of town where a Pokémon battling ground had been set up. In each box where a trainer has to stand in during a Pokémon battle a pc had been set up. Already standing in one of the trainer boxes was a man dressed in a black suit and red tie. "Your opponent will be that man over there" he said pointing to the man in the suit. "He is also an official from the Pokémon league. When you are called you will approach the pc and click random, the pc will then select a random Pokémon for you to use in the battle. The Pokémon you will be using to battle have all been approved to be used by beginners. Your opponent will also be using a random Pokémon in each battle, once the pc has chosen your Pokémon you will then have five minutes to analyze your Pokémon's move set and familiarize yourself with it. Once five minutes are up your battle will begin"

"As this is still an exam those of you who are not battling must wait in that tent over there until you are called upon. Does everyone understand" he asked. No one said a word so professor Elm continued "Good, once you have completed your battle you must return to my lab to await your results of the examination. The first person to take on the practical is Miss Queen, the rest of you could you please head to the tent and wait for me to call you" he said.

"I'll see you guys in a bit" Alex said following Professor Elm.

"Wait!" Zoey yelled latching herself onto the less than pleased Alex "Good luck Lex, I believe in you" she said.

"Yeah whatever…..good luck to you to Zoe I guess since I won't see you before your battle" she replied trying to pry Bloom of her "And good luck to you two also, you better not lose or else" she said giving Clark and I a deadly stare.

"Good Luck Lex" Clark said

"Yeah Good luck, see you on the other side" I said as Alex walked away giving us a wave.

"Come on let's go to the tent" I suggested.

* * *

The next hour went by in a blur as people were called up to battle and the number of people in the tent got smaller and smaller. We entertained ourselves by making idle chit chat waiting our turn. Zoey was the fifth person called to battle, Luke was the sixth eventually it was just me and Clark left in the tent.

"Ahh I feel like I'm going to throw up" I complained to Clark.

"It's just the nerves you'll be fine" Clark replied as he continued to do his squat jumps.

"I will never understand how you can just working out in situations like this" I said watching Clark doing his squat jumps. This was actually Clark's sixth exercise he'd done since being in the tent. He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled as he continued his work out.

"So which sponsor would you want if you could choose?" I asked trying to distract myself from the upcoming battle.

Clark stopped his work out "Honestly there's only two that I'd love to be sponsored by"

"Which two"

"I'd love to be sponsored by Stone Enterprises or the Chaos Control Corporation" he said.

"Chaos Control I could of guessed since everyone wants to join them but I would have never guessed Stone Enterprises" I said.

"Yeah you know how I love Steven Stone why would I pass on the opportunity to work for him or possibly with him" he said with stars in his eyes.

I laughed feeling all my nerves leave.

"Harvey Reus we're ready for you" Professor Elm said his head poking through the entrance of the tent.

"I'll be there in a sec Professor Elm" I said he nodded his head and left the tent.

"Well I guess I'm up. Good luck for your battle" I said holding out my hand to Clark.

He grasped my hand said "Good luck I'll see you back at the lab and don't lose or else Gloom will kill you" he said as we both chuckled.

As I walked to the battle ground I tried to psych myself up _Alright I've come this far all I have to do is win this Pokémon battle, that's all then I can start my journey to become the champion _I walked into the trainer box and stood next to the pc_. Let's do this!_

I clicked random on the pc and watched my opponent do the same. _Please be a good Pokémon _I prayed. _NO! NO! WHY? Of all the Pokémon! WHY! The gods must be playing some sick joke on me._

"Are you okay Mr. Reus?" asked Professor Elm looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine Professor" I replied as I looked back at the Pokémon the pc had chosen for me. On the screen was the one Pokémon I did not want, a Rattata. _Oh my god! Just why did they give me one of the worst Pokémon in the world. Okay Harvey calm down you've got to do this. Alright let's see what this thing can do. _I clicked on to the picture of Rattata to see his move set. _Alright you have the ability guts and can perform the moves tail whip, double edge, quick attack, hyper fang and focus energy. _I pressed the button on the pc to transfer the Rattata to me. The pokéball materialized in front of me and I released the Rattata from his pokéball. "Alright Rattata" I said bending down on one knee" I can't believe I'm saying this but I need your help, in order for me to become a professional trainer I need to beat that guy" I said pointing at my opponent "Can you please help me achieve my dream?" I asked extending my hand to him.

The Rattata looked at me curiously and tilted his head to the side after a few seconds he turned his back on me. My heart dropped as the Rattata turned his back on me, I was about to take my hand back when I realized that the Rattata was offering me his tail, I smiled and shook his tail with my hand and returned him to his pokéball.

"Are you ready?" asked Professor Elm. I nodded at him "Alright battle number nine may no commence, competitors may now send out their Pokémon"

"Let's go Rattata!" I yelled throwing my pokéball releasing Rattata.

"Rattata!"

"Go Oddish" my opponent said releasing an Oddish.

"Oddish!"

"Harvey as the challenger you may have the first move" Professor Elm said.

"Rattata use Focus energy" I commanded, Rattata took a deep breath and a purple aura surrounded his body.

"Oddish use Lucky chant" my opponent commanded, Oddish begun chanting to the sky and a strange energy begun to appear around it.

"Quick Rattata use quick attack and stop Oddish from completing its chant."

Bright white energy surrounded Rattata as he ran at an incredible speed at Oddish. Just before Rattata could strike Oddish deep green tentacles made of aura appeared from Oddish's body and stopped the quick attack from hitting.

"Oddish use poison powder"

"Rattata get out of there now"

It was too late Oddish released its poison powder from close range causing Rattata to become poisoned.

_Shit what do I do now? As long as that lucky chant is active I can't touch Oddish and in the meantime Rattata will slowly lose health._

"Rattata get as far away as you can from Oddish"

"Not so fast! Oddish use giga drain to stop Rattata from escaping,"

Three green tendrils made of energy came out of Oddish's head and wrapped around Rattata holding him down, preventing him from escaping.

_What do I do? _I thought as I watched helplessly as Rattata health was drained by giga drain and more health was lost through poison. _There's nothing I can do. I've lost, my dream is over before its even started_ I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

_Are you just going to give up like that? Luke was right you are a wuss giving up before you've really tried _said a familiar voice in my head.

_No that's not true I'm not a wuss I'm going to be a future champion and no one is going to stop me _I yelled in my mind. All of a sudden I felt something strange time seemed to slow down around me and then as if something in my mind snapped reality returned to normal time and everything became clearer.

"Rattata use hyper fang on those tendrils around you!" I yelled with new conviction in my voice.

"Rat" he replied as his fangs grew in size as he bit into the tendrils freeing himself.

"Now Rattata use tail whip on Oddish"

My opponent smiled and nodded in approval at my plan.

"Oddish use giga drain and stop Rattata"

"Rattata use quick attack to dodge giga drain and then use tail whip"

Rattata surrounded itself in the bright white energy from before but now the edges were tainted with red indicating that his ability, guts, had kicked in. His speed tripled as he bobbed and weaved through the giga drain tendrils trying to grab him eventually reaching Oddish and hit her with his tail.

The lucky chant tendrils didn't move to stop Rattata's attack. _Yes just as I thought. _Those lucky chant tendrils wouldn't react to tail whip as it lowered a Pokémon's defense and did no damage.

"Rattata I know you're tired but you need to keep up your attack and wait till lucky chant wears out"

"Rattata" he responded with what was I believe a grin. He kept up the combination of tail whip and quick attack, Rattata's natural speed combined with quick attack was too much for Oddish to handle as it was unable to keep up with his blazing speed.

I noticed that Rattata was getting really tired the poison was really eating his health up "Keep up the great work Rattata you can do it, luck chant should wear off any second now" as if on cue the lucky chant tendrils disappeared from Oddish leaving it defenseless. "Now's our chance use double edge and finish this with one hit," Bright yellow energy surrounded Rattata as he took off running with all his might at Oddish.

"Quickly Oddish set up another lucky chant" my opponent yelled worry written all over his face.

"Hurry Rattata finish this before Oddish can complete its luck chant"

"RATTATA!" he yelled and somehow found the energy to move even faster. _I just hope that all those tail whips combined with guts will be enough to finish Oddish in one hit._

"Oddish try and dodge it"

Oddish jumped into the air trying to dodge the double-edge but Rattata jumped after it and landed the hit in the sky. Oddish was sent flying to the other side of the battling area skidding across the ground. Rattata landed on the ground and winced feeling the recoil damage from double-edge.

I watched with bated breath to see if Oddish would return to its feet, Oddish did not return to its feet.

"Oddish is unable to battle the winner is Harvey and Rattata" Professor Elm announced.

"I DID IT! I WON MY FIRST POKEMON BATTLE" I yelled in excitement grabbing Rattata and giving him a hug. "You did awesome Rattata you've got to be the strongest Rattata ever," Rattata seemed to blush at the complement before feinting from the effects of poison.

I returned Rattata to his pokéball "Thank you Rattata I'll never forget what you did for me" I said as I returned him to the pc.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**First Pokémon battle I've ever written, what did you guys think? Originally I was going to start the next chapter with the battle but it didn't feel right ending it before the battle started so I moved it to this chapter. **

**If you want to submit an oc the form is up on my profile page.**

**I'd like to thank my first two followers for this story, thank you so much you guys rock btw you are also my first followers ever since this is my first story.**

**So Harvey has completed his examination, but has he done enough to pass? Has anyone done enough to pass in the group? Find out next time.**

**And as always thank you for reading my story.**


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